KEY POINTS

Ministers are working to ensure support for Prime Minister Julia Gillard after poor opinion polls.

Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean spoke out on radio, saying the Labor Party should desist from leadership speculation.

Senior cabinet minister Simon Crean has sounded the clearest warning yet to fellow Labor MPs not to return to the leadership of Kevin Rudd, saying that as prime minister he was not a team player.

Ministers sought to shore up support for Julia Gillard’s leadership following a poll showing Labor was still failing to win over voters and after the Prime Minister had to fend off more questions about her office’s handling of the Australia Day protest.

MPs backing a leadership change said Ms Gillard had lost considerable support over the summer break when caucus members returned to their electorates to take soundings.

But Mr Rudd’s backers said any challenge was unlikely until after the Queensland election on March 24.

Mr Crean, the Minister for Regional Australia and a staunch supporter of Ms Gillard, warned caucus against switching allegiance.

Asked by Fairfax radio’s Neil ­Mitchell whether Mr Rudd was seen as a team player, Mr Crean said: “Part of the reason he lost the leadership was that he wasn’t. So, I think that’s a circumstance that has to be dealt with internally by the party whenever they make these assessments.

“He can’t be prime minister again,” he said. “He’s got to accept that. Has he? That’s a question that should be put to him and I think every time it’s been put to him he does accept it.

“People will not elect as leaders those they don’t perceive as team players. I think that part of the reason he lost the leadership is because he wasn’t [a team player].”

Mr Crean urged the party to act as a team rather than “a band of prima donnas” and to sell Labor’s messages more effectively.

He said the party was best served by running a full term, and should not create leadership speculation. “The leadership will not be vacant,” he said. “There is no capacity for challenge. There is no contender that has the numbers. The sooner the party wakes up to that . . . the better off we will be.”

Mr Crean said he did not believe the Foreign Minister would mount a challenge against Prime Minister Julia Gillard despite newspaper reports suggesting she had lost the support of the NSW Right.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said it was wrong to say there was a move afoot to replace Ms Gillard.

Ms Gillard brushed off leadership speculation. “Kevin Rudd is doing a great job as Minister for Foreign Affairs,” she said.

Mr Rudd said through a spokes­person he was “honoured to serve . . . as a member of a strong ministerial team, in which Mr Crean makes an important contribution”.